"So there's no shortage of data indicating that religion may be beneficial to a person's health. But many questions remain that are much harder to answer. Does it matter how sincerely the person believes in the church's teachings? ... Religion may be therapeutic, but so can a placebo. So what's really at work here, a person's true beliefs, the validity of those beliefs or simply belonging to a group that is supportive of a healthy lifestyle and provides a social network that can ease a frequently difficult journey through life? ... Those questions may be beyond the reach of science, and some scientists have found the links between religion and health troubling. Researchers at Columbia University looked at hundreds of studies a few years ago linking religion to good health and found them wanting. (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/religion-health-link/story?id=11748798#.UFPCNaRSRkg)
ABSTRACT. Although religiosity tends to help older people to cope
with physical and social losses, not all studies find a significant association
between religious involvement and well-being in old age. It might
be that primarily the intrinsic rather than the extrinsic aspect of religiosity
is responsible for the positive effect of religiosity on well-being.
Using a sample of 103 community dwelling older adults (58+),
multivariate regression analyses showed that purpose in life rather than
extrinsic or intrinsic religious orientation was positively related to elders’
subjective well-being and negatively associated with fear of death
and death avoidance. Moreover, extrinsic religious orientation had a positive
effect on fear of death and death avoidance. Intrinsic religious orientation
was positively related to approach acceptance of death.
Frequency of shared spiritual activities and religious affiliation were unrelated
to subjective well-being but positively related to death avoidance
- Monika Ardelt, PhD
This article claims that conservatives are happier than liberals. According to scholars, more conservatives are married than liberals; 68% in comparison to 33%. Apparently marriage also correlates with happiness. In addition, political extremists are more happy than moderates:
"People at the extremes are happier than political moderates. Correcting for income, education, age, race, family situation and religion, the happiest Americans are those who say they are either “extremely conservative” (48 percent very happy) or “extremely liberal” (35 percent). Everyone else is less happy, with the nadir at dead-center “moderate” (26 percent).
Welch Two Sample t-test data: nes$christians by nes$internet
t = -5.4283, df = 1213.692, p-value = 6.863e-08
alternative hypothesis: true difference in means is not equal to 0
95 percent confidence interval:
-7.005098 -3.285759
sample estimates:
mean in group 1. Yes mean in group 5. No
77.02749 82.17292
t.test(nes$christians ~ nes$righttrack)
Welch Two Sample t-test data: nes$christians by nes$righttrack
t = 0.6312, df = 227.123, p-value = 0.5285
alternative hypothesis: true difference in means is not equal to 0
95 percent confidence interval:
-1.938464 3.765668
sample estimates:
mean in group 1. Right direction mean in group 5. Wrong track
79.42308 78.50947
nes<-read.csv("anes2008.csv")
t.test(nes$christians ~ nes$voted2008)
Welch Two Sample t-test data: nes$christians by nes$voted2008
t = -3.7736, df = 792.964, p-value = 0.0001729
alternative hypothesis: true difference in means is not equal to 0
95 percent confidence interval:
-6.120759 -1.931940
sample estimates:
mean in group 0. Did not vote in November 2008
75.47967
mean in group 1. Voted in November 2008
79.50602
VARIABLES OF INTEREST IN MASTER FILE (taken from codebook)
Happy - How happy R is
Godchnge - Describe your beliefs about God
Afterlif - Belief in life after death
Devil - belief in the devil
Heaven - belief in heaven
Hell - belief in hell
Miracles - belief in religious miracles
Bible1 - describe your feelings about the bible
Theism - God concerned with human beings personally
Fatalism - people can't change course of their lives
Godmeans - life meaningful b/c god exists
Nihilism - life serves no purpose
Predeter - god decides the course of our lives
egomeans - life meaningful only if you provide meaning
ownfate - we each mae our own fate
prayfreq - how often does r pray
relactiv/relactiv1 - how often does r take part in relig activities
Emily Singleton tuc52616@temple.edy
Justin Murphy justin.murphy@temple.edu
Maxwell Cohen tud11924@temple.edu
Sam Chronister tud15903@temple.edu
Alex Blynn tud28905@temple.edu
BRAINSTORMING / ARTICLES
with physical and social losses, not all studies find a significant association
between religious involvement and well-being in old age. It might
be that primarily the intrinsic rather than the extrinsic aspect of religiosity
is responsible for the positive effect of religiosity on well-being.
Using a sample of 103 community dwelling older adults (58+),
multivariate regression analyses showed that purpose in life rather than
extrinsic or intrinsic religious orientation was positively related to elders’
subjective well-being and negatively associated with fear of death
and death avoidance. Moreover, extrinsic religious orientation had a positive
effect on fear of death and death avoidance. Intrinsic religious orientation
was positively related to approach acceptance of death.
Frequency of shared spiritual activities and religious affiliation were unrelated
to subjective well-being but positively related to death avoidance
- Monika Ardelt, PhD
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-happiest-countries-in-the-world.html?page=all (Happiest countries) Vs. (Least Religious Countries) http://www.gadling.com/2007/08/23/least-religious-countries/
DATA SETS
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0105.xls (Life Expectancy)
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0075.xls (Religious Affiliations)
https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/studies/3255?classification=ICPSR.XVII.B.&keyword%5b0%5d=religious+behavior&paging.startRow=1 (
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/rel_rel-religion-religions (Percentage of which religion)
http://paa2009.princeton.edu/papers/91183 (Mortality Differentials by Religions)
http://www.psy.miami.edu/faculty/mmccullough/Papers/rel_mort_meta.pdf (Religious Involvement vs. Mortality)
http://www.be.wvu.edu/divecon/econ/douglas/seminar/SubrickReligiousSubsidies.pdf (The Life and Death Implications of Religious Subsidies)
T-Tests
Welch Two Sample t-testdata: nes$christians by nes$internet
t = -5.4283, df = 1213.692, p-value = 6.863e-08
alternative hypothesis: true difference in means is not equal to 0
95 percent confidence interval:
-7.005098 -3.285759
sample estimates:
mean in group 1. Yes mean in group 5. No
77.02749 82.17292
- t.test(nes$christians ~ nes$righttrack)
Welch Two Sample t-testdata: nes$christians by nes$righttrack
t = 0.6312, df = 227.123, p-value = 0.5285
alternative hypothesis: true difference in means is not equal to 0
95 percent confidence interval:
-1.938464 3.765668
sample estimates:
mean in group 1. Right direction mean in group 5. Wrong track
79.42308 78.50947
- t.test(nes$christians ~ nes$voted2008)
Welch Two Sample t-testdata: nes$christians by nes$voted2008
t = -3.7736, df = 792.964, p-value = 0.0001729
alternative hypothesis: true difference in means is not equal to 0
95 percent confidence interval:
-6.120759 -1.931940
sample estimates:
mean in group 0. Did not vote in November 2008
75.47967
mean in group 1. Voted in November 2008
79.50602
VARIABLES OF INTEREST IN MASTER FILE
(taken from codebook)
Happy - How happy R is
Godchnge - Describe your beliefs about God
Afterlif - Belief in life after death
Devil - belief in the devil
Heaven - belief in heaven
Hell - belief in hell
Miracles - belief in religious miracles
Bible1 - describe your feelings about the bible
Theism - God concerned with human beings personally
Fatalism - people can't change course of their lives
Godmeans - life meaningful b/c god exists
Nihilism - life serves no purpose
Predeter - god decides the course of our lives
egomeans - life meaningful only if you provide meaning
ownfate - we each mae our own fate
prayfreq - how often does r pray
relactiv/relactiv1 - how often does r take part in relig activities